My wife wants me to install a glass shelf in the kitchen window this weekend. The dimensions are about 12" X 50" and it will hold plants. The heaviest is about 8 pounds and will be in the center. What thickness glass is needed for this project? Should I try to find some special kind of glass for this project or is anything of the right size and thickness ok?
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Glass with out supports all along the 50" side will not even hold its own weight. You will need to add up the # of pots and then place a support under each Unless of course your planning on using some 1 inch thick stuff.
then i guess that my dining room table that is 3/8" glass and supported only at the corners shattered a long time ago and i've been eating in midair ever since? how about my patio table that is 1/4" tempered that is only edge supported. it isn't really there either?
you'll want it to be tempered, which means you won't find a piece of glass off the shelf. you'll have to have one custom made and sent out for tempering. try asking in a window glass shop. as a guess 3/8" untempered, or
1/4" tempered, would work, as long as you didn't bounce any of the pots. you also didn't state how many pots @ what weight. 1/2" would be overkill, but you can get a nice edge or bevel put on it at the window shop which would make it appear thinner.
Charlie, Thanks for the useful information. There will be one 8 lb plant in the middle of the shelf plus, (I'm guessing) a couple of smaller 1-2 lb plants on either side.
I'll check out local glass shops as you suggested and ask about bevelling the edge too.
-- Bob Simon remove both "x"s from domain for private replies
A 50" span is too much for practicality.
----------------- I have some experience from doing a similar project. In my opinion, you definitely want 3/8" tempered glass. 1/4" doesn't look substantial - 3/8" looks much nicer. Also, 1/4" can't handle the accidental dropping of something on it nearly as well as 3/8".
Any good glass shop will likely have the stuff in stock, and can cut, and grind a bevel for you in short order.
If the location and esthetics permit, you could use 2-25" pieces with a double shelf bracket in the middle. More support for heavier pots in the middle. I installed a 5' long bathroom shelf and found it was easier to find the 30" pieces at the glass shop, and the two together came to less than they wanted for the full length in one piece. They were concerned that if they cut it in one piece from a big sheet what would be left would be too small for the table tops they made. The double bracket I used had slots to hold the ends.
The 50" span is across a window so a bracket in the center is not an option in this situation. However, I could run a 1" X 1" across the window, which would support the back of the glass. Hopefully, this would not be too objectionable aesthetically.
If anyone has done something similar, I'd like to hear how satisfied you are with the results, visually.
-- Bob Simon remove both "x"s from domain for private replies
The March, 2004 issue of Wood magazine has an article about bookcases and offers some information on using glass shelves.
Their chart shows a 1/2" annealed glass can old 345 pounds per square foot on a 1' span, 81 pounds on a 2' span, 33 on a 3' span. They do not sow anything longer. At the same 3' distance 1/4" glass is 5 pounds, 3/8" is 18 pounds per square foot.
Some info at
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